The Walking Dead Apocalypse
by ForeverSunshine80083
Summary: Sophia Peletier is now twenty-two years old and has witnessed the death of many beloved people close to her heart. Including Rick Grimes, the seemingly indestructible leader as well as her own mother, Carol. But times couldn't be any worse. After the loss of the prison and taking place sixteen years after the birth of Judith Grimes, Carl is the new leader of the totally new group.
1. Prologue

_-Walking Dead Apocalypse-_

**_-Prologue-_**

November eleventh. We all witnessed Rick Grime's death. Eight years ago to this day, we watched him fall. Carl, Maggie, Glenn, Daryl, Carol, Beth, Andrea, Michonne, Tyreese and Hershel. Even Judith and the boys, Shawn and Hershel junior. We were scouting the perimeter of whatever was left over of Woodbury after the fire. Rick had seen the lone gunner before any of us had, running to grab Carl and tackle him to the ground. The bullet struck home and Rick was dead in seconds. Carl had killed the man with his bare hands. I was stuck cleaning blood out of his clothes for weeks.

Rick's death struck us all with grief. For months we were in tatters, barely able to keep things together at all. We lost so many the day the prison became overrun. My mother Carol and Hershel . . .

We were forced to move. But the only places left were miles of woodland and the ruins of the once evil Woodbury. It wasn't a hard choice between the two, but what came after was. Apparently, a bunch of the Woodbury survivors had joined together and during the fight for Woodbury, Maggie, Andrea and Tyreese were lost. When we won the finale battle, victory had never tasted so bitter. Glenn didn't speak for weeks. Michonne left for months. There was just the eleven of us left, consisting mostly of children aside from Daryl, Glenn, Carl and Beth. Times were worse than horrible. You were lucky to get cold water at all and walkers were absolutely everywhere. The reconstruction of Woodbury took nearly four years and even then, things were hardly any better. With each year that passed, Daryl, our newly assigned leader, got colder and colder. Until he barely spoke at all, spending most of his time at Mom's grave.

The construction was slow and long. Of course, over the years, we had found other survivors. A medic even. And many others. But time only brought up a recurring question. Was Daryl fit to be the leader anymore?

Carl assumed the role shortly thereafter and I watched him struggle with it for years. Even now, I can still see the torment in his eyes. He shares both his father's compassion and determination to be strong even when it's alright to feel scared. In all my years by his side, I have never seen him cry. Ever since the day of Rick's death. Ever sense everything went to hell and back. Ever since the world got just a bit darker.

My name is Sophia Peleteir and I have no idea how this group will age or grow. We're stronger now than we were before, but maybe it isn't all that great. I sometimes worry that we're losing our humanity. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I worry too much. Who knows? Sometimes I just feel that maybe Rick Grimes wasn't the only one we lost on November eleventh. Sometimes I believe that we all lost ourselves.

**Author's note: Hello, everyone! This is the prologue to the new story I am going to be writing called, the Walking Dead Apocalypse. It's the first Walking Dead FanFic I have ever written, so bear with me, people! If I make any mistakes or screw something up, please feel free to say! I've been trying to do as much extra research on the characters as possible and re-watch episodes if necessary. And to clear something up, this is loosely based off the TV show and the comics, so for example, Andrea lived a little longer (XD) and gave birth to (the evil bastard's) the Governor's son. Tyreese hooked up with Michonne. Sophia is alive . . . you get the gist. :)**

**Okay, so, so far, this story takes place fifteen years after the other three seasons took place (not counting the fourth as I haven't seen it. But excited as hell!). The main characters are Sophia Peletier (using Carol's last name and not her real father's) and Carl Grimes. Of course, there are many others, including Beth Greene, Judith Grimes, Maggie and Glenn's two twin boys Shawn and Hershel Rhee, Shenae AKA Michonne and Tyreese's daughter, Bennie Dixon AKA Carol and Daryl's daughter and even Forrest Blake AKA Andrea and Philip Blake's (the Governor's) son. Along with many new characters! Hopefully you'll enjoy! **

**I love reviews and comments as well as constructive criticism! It'd mean the world to me if you commented. I'm also open to ideas and plot schemes. Tell me what you think! Also, if you've ever seen Supernatural or enjoy Norse Mythology, I have written two other FanFic's about each! Supernaturally and Blaze of Fire. And visit me on FictionPress to view my original work! Wow, I'm a busy writin' bee! **

**Anyway, thanks again for reading and I'll be posting the first chapter ASAP. Love you all! *blows kiss* ;)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Wow! So many reviews for just the prologue! I am more than flattered. Every time I get a little beep from my phone saying I have a new email, I freak out! This is so amazing! And the prologue is only like, five hundred words! O.O Now I'm just afraid I won't live up to the expectations. Crap . . . *face palm***

**Anyhow, thank you, everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited my new work. It means more than I can say that you're interested. This has been an idea I've tossed around my brain for a while, so it's nice to have the extra encouragement to continue. Every little bit helps. As for this chapter, I wanted to mainly focus on the old normals and the new normals. Like, before and after the zombie apocalypse. And then I wanted to portray how much Sophia tries to stay happy and confident, even though she knows deep down that everything is ****_so_**** messed up and broken beyond recognition or repair. Things will never be the same, people will never be the same and times will never be the same. **

**Now, I had a question as to which canon characters are still alive and thriving and so here's the answer, my friend: There are five left. Well, only three left from Atlanta, but in total, Daryl, Michonne, Glenn, Beth and Carl. Out of the five, Carl definitely shows up the most, but Beth is in here a lot as well as Glenn and Daryl briefly. Michonne stays mostly to herself, but she's still around. ;) RIP Rick. Even though I chose to kill him off, I feel so terrible. :(**

**Hopefully this chapter does not bore you. I merely wanted to set things up. Tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your suggestions and comments! If anyone would like message reminders for when I post a new chapter, let me know! It's completely possible. **

_-Chapter One-_

**_-Beginnings-_**

Ed squeezed my hand tightly as he watched me cry out. "Come on, Carol, it's only a little baby, sweet heart. It ain't nothing hard to do. Keep pushing. We've got my family outside," he urged.

I pinched my lips together and growled, feeling an alien sense of anger flood over me. It wasn't an emotion I frequently tried to release. Being a born and raised Christian woman made me that way. But just this once, Ed was starting to really make me uncomfortable.

The doctor seemed to pick up on the disturbance, as she smiled at my husband. "Please, sir, why don't you wait outside? It may be a little while longer," she said, giving me a little smile.

I returned it full heartedly, before feeling another contraction come on. Ed rolled his eyes. "Nonsense," he said back. "This ain't nothing I haven't seen before, right, baby?"

I bit my tongue.

"With all due respect," the doctor continued. "It would be better to relieve as much stress on the new baby mother as possible. She may feel . . . self-conscious."

Ed laughed aloud and I intervened. "Please, Ed, it's okay." I stopped and chewed on the inside of my lip, feeling my insides clench.

"Are you saying that my wife can't go giving birth to _my_ baby with me being here? Remind me again how you got your so-called medical degree again, _lady._"

The doctor tried very hard to keep her face emotionless. Instead of replying, she turned to me. "It'll only be a little while longer, ma'am. Just keep pushing."

"Hey," Ed snapped. "I'm talking to y—"

I let my head back and nearly swore my tongue off. The only thing keeping me from yelling at my poor husband was the sound of a baby crying. I looked down and let go of a tight breath. The doctor smiled brightly and handed the crying baby to a nurse, who carefully began to wash it off in the sink. My neck hurt as I tried to see. Ed shadowed the nurse.

"Oh, _she's_ so tiny," he muttered.

Once again, the doctor ignored him, wrapping the baby in a blanket before handed her to me. I swear, at that very moment, I let every ounce of anger and irritation disappear into thin air. The moment my eyes met her big blue ones, brighter than the sky, I felt the ice over my heart melt. It was as if God himself had come to grace me with his glorious warmth. Between her soft, feathery blonde hair and rosy pink cheeks, I had never felt love so fiercely.

Almost immediately, she stopped crying. Her hand, no bigger than my thumb, reached up to my face and it squeezed my chin softly. I realized then that maybe the world wasn't such a bad place after all. Maybe miracles still existed. Even though times were tough and the person closest to me was clawing at my heart, I knew this little child was pure and beautiful and innocent, without any wrong or error about her. Everything screamed perfection from the tip of her nose to her tiny little toes. She was my angel and no matter what it took, I knew that I would always treasure her first. She was the perfect creation from my perfect mistake.

"My beautiful, Sophia. My beautiful, beautiful, Sophia," I whispered, holding her close and feeling her own tiny heart beat like hummingbird wings. My eyes stung and finally, I let myself relax, falling asleep to the sound of her heart beat.

My perfect little creation.

**_-Present Time-_**

The zombie collapsed to the ground from my shot and I bit my lip, letting go of a holler. "Yes!" I cried, grinning from ear to ear. "Did you see that? Come on, Carl, did you see that? I shot it! In the head! Like a badass!"

Carl crossed his arms and shivered against the breeze, burrowing deeper into the collar of his father's brown leather jacket. "Good job, Sophia."

I pouted, deciding that even though I was twenty-two, I could act like a three-year-old just this once. "Please, try to hold in your excitement. You'll pull something."

He didn't even crack a smile as he looked back at me, eyes distant as always and winter cold. But for once, I thought I watched it melt for a second as if something unfurled in his mind. Just as quickly as it came, though, it disappeared. I stopped smiling.

"It's today, isn't it? November eleventh?" I asked, even though I knew the answer already. Of course it was. November eleventh wasn't exactly the day to forget. We held a ceremony to remember all who we lost years ago. The whole community joined in. Even Carl, who stayed as far away from community social gatherings as possible.

He looked up to meet my eyes. "But you knew that already." It wasn't a question.

I couldn't keep his stare anymore and instead, looked back at the fallen zombie, bleeding black goo onto the earth. "Yeah," I mumbled, watching my breath billow white.

Traveling back to main camp, I surveyed the walls. There were two guards posted at each, a mixture of men and women all holding guns. As there was a limited supply of fire arms around camp, only the Protectors were allowed to be armed. Everyone else carried various knives and the likes. I pulled my own from my pocket and spun it around my fingers absentmindedly.

Stopping at the North wall, I smiled and took my hands from my pockets to grab a couple pebbles. The intensity of the cold bit at my fingers, but I kept going, grabbing three little stones from the ground and tossing them at the nearest Protector. "Hey!" I cupped my mouth and shouted. "Forrest!"

The tall man jumped and spun around, aiming his gun right at me with wide eyes. My hands flew into the air and I raised my eyebrows. "Whoa, down Bessie. It truly _will_ be the zombie apocalypse when zombies start throwing rocks."

Forrest growled and rolled his eyes. "Didn't Carl tell you to stop messing with the Protectors while they're on duty?"

Seth, to Forrest's right, laughed. "Hey, man, the chic can do whatever she wants. Honey, just tell me and I'll show you how to throw rocks like a man," Seth shouted back down the wall of miscellaneous pieces of wood. From an outsider's point of view, the walls appeared as if you could throw a blade of grass at it and it'd break, but in reality, it was probably the strongest part of New Woodbury. Aside from the weaponry, of course. That place was made of _steel_.

I made a snorting sound. "Whatever you say, Seth. Anyway, Carl says I can join the VIP squad, so I'm relieving you of duty, Forrest. You can go help set up the community lounge." I jabbed my thumb back down the street.

Forrest shrugged and tossed down the gun. I grabbed at it, but it ended up just bouncing from my half frozen arms and hitting the ground instead. He smiled, climbing half way down the ladder and jumping the rest. _Seventeen-year-olds._ Always trying to show off in the stupidest of ways. I chuckled and waved before making my way up the ladder. At first, I had been terrified of heights. So much so, that it threw off my shot. I ended up wasting more bullets than killing zombies, so Carl had demoted me to 'Medic's assistant's assistant." Now, Lauren was sweet as candy, but nothing could beat offing a walker and feeling like you're helping the community. The hero thing was just great.

Taking my perch at the top, I stood, surveying the cracked roads that were probably once filled with honking cars and angry citizens. I imagined the trees green and thriving, the roads perfect and black. I imagined being in traffic, worrying about what I would do if the road I needed to take was closed. Or if there was an officer behind me. What if I was speeding, just a little over the speed limit? And I had to figure out how to get out of a fifty dollar ticket. Then I just dreamed of driving down free open roads, never stopping or having to worry about whether or not I was driving towards an overrun city or if I needed to get out and push some old cars off the road. I would blast music so loud, that the zombies in Jamaica could hear me. And I'd be utterly free.

The sound of a bullet wrenched me from my day dream and I returned to the cold, bitter air of November eleventh, two-thousand-twenty-nine.

"Sophia, I tagged your walker. What the heck?" Seth's irritated voice asked.

I sighed and looked back at the broken road, finding a new zombie lying on the ground. This one was just a child, barely even nine. A birthday hat was stuck to her head and I cringed at the dirtied pink Sleeping Beauty dress she was wearing.

"Obviously it was nothing you couldn't handle," I murmured in reply. My cheery attitude was deteriorating. Stupid High School drama movie I watched last night. It kept putting the old normal back into my head. Would I have been popular if I had gone to school? Would I have a boyfriend and go on double dates and stuff? Would I freak out if I forgot my homework? Nowadays, the only thing that freaked me out was finding that a walker got into our division. Last month we had had a bit of an incident. Ty, a Protector we had found off wandering in the woods had gone crazy and shot Justin, the other Protector while simultaneously opening the doors and letting in three or four walkers. They were immediately taken care of, Ty included, but Justin's death had sent Bailey, his wife, into shock for weeks. Even now, she was still deep in mourning. We all were. Justin would be included in tonight's vigil.

"Sophia! Did you hear me?" Seth asked heatedly.

I jerked back into the present. "Oh my gosh, sorry. I was just . . . thinking. What'd you ask me?"

Seth sighed and ran a hand through his dirty blonde locks. "I _asked_ if you and Carl and Beth had figured out tonight's meal. For the feast?"

My mind scrambled, trying to piece everything back together. "Uh, yeah," I mumbled. "I think."

"You think?"

"I mean no! Sorry, I'm just feeling a little weird. My fault." I turned back to the road and leaned against the pillar, moving the rifle back and forth in my hands.

Seth laughed lightly. "Oh-kay, just don't let Carl see you all scrambled eggs like. You know what happens to ex-Protectors."

"Been there, done _that_. Trust me. Not great."

The conversation died and just like that, we went back to quiet acquaintances. I kept cocking the gun even when it didn't need cocking and whenever a zombie popped out, I ended up tagging it in the shoulder first, before the head. But besides that, the next three hours passed soundly. Part of me almost felt a little bored. Like, I would totally be okay if a herd of walkers showed up out of nowhere. We had enough of an arsenal to gun them all down before they even reached the walls, but still, I had a feeling the apprehension would warm my fingers a bit.

Before I knew it, I was being shaken awake by Shenae. My eyes went wide and I leapt to my feet, feeling my muscles ache and cramp from the sudden movement.

The young girl looked at me with a ghost of a smile, her skin blending into the darkness almost entirely. She shined a flashlight in my face. "You fell asleep," she explained. "I would have awakened you sooner, but you seemed too peaceful. Now Carl has called us."

Cracking my neck, I groaned, trying to thaw out my fingers. "Um, thank you," I said awkwardly, biting my lip. "Are, uh, you coming too?"

Shenae smiled. "Not yet. My shift is almost through."

I paused, unsure whether to leave the young girl or not. She was barely a teenager. Only about fifteen, maybe? I had a hard time keeping up with everyone's ages. We tried hard to celebrate everyone's birthday, but it was a difficult thing to do. A lot of us thought it was a useless tradition. Carl mostly.

After an awkward silence, Shenae spoke up again. "They have already started the campfire. You may not want to miss it."

At that, I gasped and dropped the gun, running towards the ladder and sliding down the wood. My boots hit the ground with a crunch and I looked back at Shenae once. "Thanks a lot! I owe you!"

The dark silhouette of the girl turned from me and went back to watch. I envied her vision in the dark.

Running through the make-shift village of rag-tag buildings and cabins, I found the fire circle immediately; a little annoyed I missed the fire lighting. Carl would be so pissed.

But hopefully because this was possibly the only holiday we ever celebrated, he would let it go. Hopefully.


End file.
